Cheryl McDonald, M.D. has become the first female chief of the medical staff at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth in the hospital’s 82-year history.

McDonald, an infectious disease specialist, has been on the hospital’s medical staff since 1998, during which time she has served in numerous leadership roles, including secretary of the medical staff; chief, vice chief, and secretary of the medical staff’s internal medicine division; and chair of the quality assurance committee.

“I’m honored to make history at Texas Health Fort Worth as the first female chief of staff, and look forward to serving such a dedicated group of physicians for the remainder of my term,” said McDonald, in a statement.

McDonald earned her bachelor’s degree in molecular biology and mathematics from Vanderbilt University in 1985 and earned her medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in 1989. She completed an internal medicine residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham from 1990 until 1992 and a fellowship in infectious disease at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center from 1993 until 1997.